Your company's compliance calendar

Every South African company has a set of deadlines that keep it registered and out of penalties. They depend on your incorporation date and financial year — so enter them and read yours, dated. Free, no signup, nothing captured.

Incorporation date

Financial year end

Employees?

Deadline	Next due	What happens if you miss it

The annual-return window is 30 business days counted here as weekdays; South African public holidays inside your window extend it slightly. Treat these dates as the latest safe moment, not a target.

The deadline that quietly kills companies

The CIPC annual return is not a tax return and is owed even if the company never traded. It falls due in the 30 business days after each anniversary of your incorporation date, and late filing accrues penalties daily from the day the window closes. Miss it in two consecutive years and CIPC flags the company for deregistration — published in the Government Gazette, where banks, clients and anyone who searches your company can see it.

Since 15 April 2024, CIPC also refuses the annual return unless your beneficial ownership filing is up to date — so an out-of-date BO declaration silently blocks the one filing that keeps you registered. They travel together; treat them as one job.

The SARS side

A company is a provisional taxpayer from day one. The first provisional payment is due six months into your financial year, the second on the last day of it, and the ITR14 company return within twelve months of year end — even at nil. If you employ anyone, PAYE runs monthly (EMP201, by the 7th) with reconciliations (EMP501) in the April–May and September–October windows.

If you would rather someone carried this for you, that is exactly what our registration service is — and if you only want the filing done in a given year, ask when the time comes. The calendar stays free either way.

Sources: CIPC Annual Returns FAQ and Information Guide (cipc.co.za); beneficial-ownership enforcement per CIPC notices in effect since 15 April 2024; provisional tax and ITR14 timing per the Income Tax Act's provisional tax rules. General information, not tax or legal advice — confirm your dates with your accountant, especially around public holidays.